Acceptance
by David Fraser
Summary: Sunnydale. College years. Willow listens to her heart.
Disclaimer: I/We own no part of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters associated with the show, and no infringement of copyright is intended. Written for fun, a slightly different part of this was previously published at the Kittenboard/Pens by Lucy.

 **Acceptance.**

Tara looked at the short entry she had made in her diary...

# Something is stirring to life inside me; something I have never felt before, and I wonder if it is hope? #

Carefully replacing the cap on her pen, she closed the small book and returned it to the top drawer of her dresser.

-oOo-

Willow jumped with guilt as Buffy came rushing into their room. She was so nervous she almost didn't get the small brush back into the narrow opening at her first try...

The Slayer was looking decidedly flustered as she crossed to the small sink and filled the bowl with cold water. Swiftly undoing her top, she placed the garment in the water and allowed it to soak. "Blood! Why can't Demon's go 'poof' like a Vampire? Then I wouldn't have to do this so often, _and_ , I just bought this top last week. Grrr... Aargh!"

"B-Buffy, perhaps you should try wearing fatigues like Riley when you're out on patrol."

"No! No way! What kind of fashion statement would _that_ make!" Turning round from the sink, she finally took note of Willow, sitting at the desk. "Willow? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me. Who did you think it was?" Willow raised her chin defiantly.

"Erm... Sorry, it's just that I haven't seen you with the warpaint on in a while... So? You got a hot date tonight? Is it anybody I know? What's his name?"

"No, I'm just going out with a friend, nobody you know." She felt slightly guilty for not saying anything to Buffy about what was going on in her life, but rationalised her reticence by telling herself that even she wasn't sure yet.

"Willow, you're wearing mascara! I bet you even shaved your legs tonight, didn't you?"

"Buffy!"

"What?" She smiled. "You look hot though..."

Willow felt the heat of a blush even as she smiled to herself at Buffy's remark. 'Maybe I am', she thought. Rising slowly to her feet, she draped her coat over her left arm, and, making sure she had everything she wanted, headed for the door. "I _might_ see you later. Don't wait up!"

As the door closed behind her, Buffy felt a happy for Willow. She seemed, at last, to be getting over the whole Oz leaving gig... Now, what was she going to wear for meeting Riley later? She turned to her closet...

-oOo-

Tara was waiting at the entrance to the movie theatre as Willow walked up the street towards her. The fluid movements of the redheads stride seemed to naturally draw her eye; even as everything else faded into the background. The calf-length coat she had draped over her shoulders, and left unbuttoned, would open and close with her walk, exposing her strong leather-clad legs to view...

As Willow stopped in front of her, reaching for her hand to clasp lightly, the simple touch caused Tara's heart to leap for a moment, and she gazed at those lips she longed to kiss...

When she spoke, a whole world of possibilities opened up for Tara. "Shall we..?"

-oOo-

Holding the door open for Tara, Willow looked round the Bronze...

There were only a few people about that she knew from her previous life, but, as there was no band playing tonight, the only music was coming from the jukebox... People fed it money and it played their choices as the mood took it.

"Oh, look, there's a game almost finished. I'll just put our names down, and then get the drinks. What would you like?"

Tara was also looking around, contemplating all the strangers. "Um, just w-water, please." This was only the second time that Willow had taken her here, and she did not have many pleasant memories of her first visit...

"Okay, grab a seat on one of the couches, and I'll be right back." Willow moved over to the pool tables and wrote their initials up on the chalkboard, then headed up to the bar.

Tara moved over to one of the couches placed under the stairs to the upper level. There was a small table placed just in front of it. Curling her left leg under her thigh, she sat down at the right hand side and watched Willow as she waited to get served...

-oo-

They were sitting together, not close enough to garner glances from the other patrons of the Bronze; but still, close...

"What did you think of the movie?"

Tara didn't know how to respond at first. She hadn't been paying much attention to the movie, just enjoying the sensation of Willow holding her hand, occasionally caressing her fingers with her thumb."Em... Okay..?"

"Yeh, I thought it was the best thing Julia Roberts has done for ages..."

Luckily they were interrupted by one of the jocks at the pool table shouting over, "Willow, you're up!"

Raising her hand in acknowledgment, Willow stood, and, reaching back for Tara's fingers pulled her to her feet. "C'mon."

Crossing the fingers of her right hand behind her back, Tara protested quietly, "Willow, I don't know how to play pool..."

"No problem. I'll teach you... Right, the first thing to do is to pick a cue. Feel the weight of a few of those in the rack and see if any of them ~speak~ to you."

Tara tried a few of the cues before settling for two, which she held up for Willow to inspect. "These two seem okay, but which one do I choose?"

"What you do now is to place the butt of each one in the palm of your hand, and see if one is more comfortable than the other..."

"You want me to check how each butt feels in the palm of my hand?" She looked at Willow carefully.

Willow smiled. "Try it. I think you'll find that they each feel different."

Leaning one cue against the table, Tara placed the palm of her hand around the thicker end of the other one; moving her wrist carefully to get the feel of the weight. She put it down and tried the other one... "You're right, they are different... I'll keep this one."

Willow smiled. "Good, now I'll set up the balls, then we can decide on the rules for the game." Placing her coins in the slot, she pushed hard and waited for the balls to descend into the trough at the side of the table. Laying a plastic triangle on the table, she arranged the balls in alternate colors within the enclosure formed, leaving a space for the black ball.

Moving the whole assemblage so that the black ball rested over a spot on the table, she removed the triangle and placed it in an opening at one end of the table. "I'll go first if you don't mind, so that you know what to do, then we'll toss a coin to see who goes. Then there'll be no mercy, I'm ruthless pool gal!" Placing the white ball within a half-circle marked at the opposite end of the table, she took aim and let rip. The formally neat triangle of balls broke up with an impressive show of reaction, and balls bounced back and forth off the cushions on all sides, spreading evenly throughout the top. None of them went into any of the six pockets.

Tara, hearing the echo of distant laughter fading into the background of her mind, watched Willow's bottom lip form into a small pout as she gave an 'Umph!' of exasperation. 'She's going to stamp her foot! Oh, Willow...'

Willow looked up at her with a sheepish grin on her face... and, for Tara, at that moment, the world seemed to stop. All the insecurities she had been harboring in her chest just dissolved, a formerly unknown tightness just let go, and she could suddenly breathe deep again, without the fear of pain... Thoughts that had been tumbling head over heels through her mind were suddenly still. Thoughts and ideas that had been distancing her from a world of possibilities were suddenly gone; silenced as she reacted viscerally to this woman standing before her. A unexpected bloom of heat formed in her belly, expanding rapidly; radiating outwards it rushed through her limbs. She felt her knees become dizzy, and she was thankful that she could just rest her weight against the pool cue for a moment... It was all that was holding her upright.

"Tara... Are you okay?"

She struggled to speak past the sudden dryness in her mouth. "Y-yes, I'm fine, thanks." 'In fact, everything is just perfect.' "What happens now?"

"Well, things haven't quite worked out the way I expected, so you'll just have to make a choice of color, and try and pot one." She made a sweeping gesture to include all the balls arranged around the green baize top.

Tara leant over the table and lined up her first shot. "I think I'll choose the yellow ones with the stripe." She potted her first ball...

-oo-

As Willow watched the Black ball roll slowly to the corner pocket, pause momentarily before falling over the lip to disappear into the bowels of the table, she turned to Tara. "I've been hustled!"

Tara shrugged her shoulders and gave Willow a small smile.

"You are in so much trouble missy! See this, this is my resolve face, so just you wait till I get you alone. I'm going to tickle you till you beg me to stop!"

"That doesn't mean you g-get out of your responsibilities. I'd like a soda this time please." As Willow headed up to the bar, Tara smiled happily in anticipation. Paying the table again, she began to set up the balls in another pretty pattern.

-oOo-

As they made their way across the campus, Tara giggled as Willow stopped for a moment and attempted her impression of her friend Xander as he performed the 'Snoopy' dance; totally ignoring the askance looks she was gathering from the other students out walking this warm evening. As she stopped her disjointed movements, both girls sat down on the rim of a stone planter to gather their breath, their hands automatically seeking each other, their fingers intertwining. "W-Willow?"

"Mmhm?"

Tara squeezed Willow's hand gently, looking into her eyes. "Th-Thank you for this evening. I-I had fun."

Willow gave her a perky grin. "Me too!"

"W-We..." She stopped as her stutter threatened to overwhelm her determination to get this out. 'Please! Goddess, help me.' Biting her bottom lip between her teeth, she took a deep breath, loving Willow even more as she waited patiently. "There's something I need to say to you. Something we have to talk about." She ducked her head momentarily, the veil of her hair obscuring her face as she looked at their conjoined hands. Almost screaming, 'No!', as Willow withdrew her fingers.

The feel of those same fingers, caressing her neck as they tucked her hair back behind her ear, brought her gaze up to meet Willow's again. "I know. Do you want me to go first?"

Tara was shocked at what she saw in that look, the gentle curve of lips...

"Huh?"

"I need to say things to you too. Things that are going to change... well... things, between us..." Now it was Willow's turn to glance down nervously at her fingers which had moved to gather Tara's to her again. "So, can I go first?"

Tara looked round at the other students who were still wandering back and forth across the grounds. "Maybe we should go inside... Where it's more private?" She stood, keeping Willow's hand in hers as she led the way over to the doors of her building. Stopping at the soda machine just inside the student lounge, she got a couple of cans to replace the cold ones she was going to need from her small fridge. Once again, for some reason, her mouth suddenly felt dry, whilst her body felt as if she was running a temperature. Taking Willow's hand once more, she led the way up the stairs. Neither girl spoke.

Her hand shaking slightly, she managed to key the lock on her door, feeling along the wall inside till her fingers found the switch. The light from a small lamp on her dresser and the Christmas lights strung along the wall above her bed engendered a warm and welcoming glow in the room. Placing the cans in her fridge, she handed Willow a bottle of water and took a cold soda for herself. Moving to close the curtains over the window, she gestured to the bed. "Sit..?"

Willow had laid her coat over the back of the chair at the dresser and now removed her shoes as she sat up on the bed, leaning against the wall, her legs curled under her. Waiting as Tara joined her on the bed and leant back against the headboard, she uncapped the bottle in her hands, taking a quick drink. Her swallow was loud in the quiet of the room.

"I..."

"Willow..."

They both giggled as their voices passed each other on the journey across the small space between them...

Tara placed her left hand on the leather-clad knee which was just within reach, a gentle pressure as she spoke. "Y-You go f-first."

"Okay." Willow remained silent as she again tried to get her thoughts into an order that would make sense, or at the very least, come out in English when she opened her mouth.

Just about to speak, she... paused... 'No! Nothing is going to spoil this. I'm not going to spazz!'

Sometimes she cursed herself for her self-knowledge, the fact that she knew, just knew, that when she began to speak all that would emerge would be a few inarticulate vowel sounds that would embarass her so much that she would jump off the bed, grab her coat and run out of Tara's dorm room (forgetting her shoes), down the stairs and out into the night, running as fast as she could until she made it back to her and Buffy's room... Just knew that she would not stop until she was in her own bed with the blankets pulled over her head, never to emerge...

So, she paused.

Willow Rosenberg was not, and had never been called, a fool. There had been few important events in her life that she was not aware of at the time they had been happening...

She knew something wonderful was happening when Xander Harris had stood up for her in kindergarten, and declared himself to be the breaker of yellow crayons...

She knew that when her parents forgot her 8th birthday that they did not love her...

In 10th grade, she knew something else, when a seemingly typical valley-girl persona by the name of Buffy Summers first acknowledged her existence, then started, and continued to speak to her...

This... something... had been reiterated when she had been going out with Oz...

Now, she was here, and totally aware that this moment, would alter everything forever... Everything rested on this moment, and she was not going to speak...

Removing Tara's soda from her hands she placed it beside her bottled water on the bedside table and looked into her eyes, pressing a finger across her lips when she made to speak again. Caressing the full bottom lip to the corner she cupped her cheek in her palm as she moved forward slowly, gazing into her eyes. Tara made no use of the time available to move away, instead she turned her head slightly to nuzzle the palm of Willow's hand, her eyes now lidded. With a gentle motion, Willow encouraged her to look at her again, moving across the short distance to place her lips against Tara's; her eyes closing unconsciously as she touched the soft flesh. It only lasted a moment, but she felt as if she had come home at last...

Moving back, she looked at Tara to gauge her reaction, watching as her eyes opened, the blue so deep now that they captured her utterly; unable to react as time stopped completely...

Neither knew who moved first, neither cared any longer as everything _**shifted**_... The Universe becoming aware that all things were changed from this moment forward...

There was no knowledge of who moaned as hands cupped the back of heads... As lips meshed again, at first gently, then more urgently as the kiss deepened. Lips parted and tongues touched for the first time; the jolt of feeling shocking them both to the tips of their toes. Parted momentarily by the sensation, there was no hesitation in again seeking out the feelings engendered by such intimate contact, exploring each other, sucking gently...

As their lips unlocked, Willow released a sigh. Leaning her forehead against Tara's, she felt her eyes open slowly as she tasted the breath that Tara let escape at the same time. Too close to focus on the features before her she revelled in the new sensations coursing through her as her hands tightened their hold on either side of Tara's body, her fingers hooking into claws as they pulled the taller girl into her own body... Floating backwards to pull the soft weight down on top of her as she sought out the touch of those lips again...

 **The End.**


End file.
